Elland Road transformed into Fantasy Island

They have been working hard on their image at Leeds United recently, but no one at the club mentioned that Elland Road reworked as Fantasy Island was part of the plan. It was last night. Three goals up after a pulsating opening 22 minutes, an ebullient Leeds doubled the tally in the second half when other sides might have relaxed. By half-time Besiktas were in tatters, but Leeds were responsible for that. And this was the Besiktas team that put three past Barcelona last Tuesday.

Suddenly, from being humbled in the Nou Camp a fortnight ago, Leeds are now top of Group H as their win over AC Milan last week supersedes Milan's superior goal difference. If they win in Turkey in three weeks they are on course to qualify and eliminate one of the giants of European football in the process. It could be Barcelona, who last night lost at home to AC Milan. What a scalp Barcelona would be.

But if Leeds continue to play with the authority, precision and invention they showed here, then everything achieved will be deserved. In such a memorable Olympic week they were swifter, higher and stronger than their opponents, and it was fitting that the hitherto indolent Mark Viduka at last resembled a committed Australian athlete rather than a disaffected Leeds footballer. Viduka returned from Sydney on Friday afternoon apparently galvanised by events there.

Viduka's reformed attitude provoked disbelieving looks from the kick-off. He soon scored his first Leeds goal, and was quickly followed by Dominic Matteo doing the same. Lee Bowyer got his fifth and sixth of the season. The excellent Eirik Bakke struck the fourth, and even substitute Darren Huckerby got in on the act.

At the end the Besiktas players stayed on the pitch to warm down. For Leeds it was a case of cooling down. "Some great goals and some beautiful football," was David O'Leary's concise verdict.

There was some bad news. Alan Smith scarred an otherwise mature performance with a typically needless yellow card that rules him out of the next match. But if it was not the case already, then the football definitely triumphed over everything else pertaining to this fixture.

The troubled context was well known, and, after Tuesday afternoon's decision by Besiktas to withdraw their fans' trip, a thin snake of about 20 Turkish supporters were shepherded into the ground. They will wish they hadn't bothered.

But the Turks encountered little hostility and the mood of reconciliation was furthered when the visitors emerged for the pre-match photographs bearing bouquets of flowers. They were thrown into the crowd to genuine applause. Plenty more Turkish gifts and Yorkshire thanks were to follow.

Leeds opened at a fierce tempo and quickly displayed the sort of forward movement that was to leave Besiktas in shreds. The mercurial left foot of Ian Harte was once again the supplier of a fast, accurate inswinger behind the Turkish defence. Leeds were so eager that, before Bowyer half-volleyed the Harte cross in, Matteo had slid in at the near post in front of him and failed to connect by a fraction.

Elland Road soared, Leeds surged. Three minutes later Smith, showing finesse and strength, slipped a beautiful pass to Viduka who, one-on-one with Ike Shorunmu, the Besiktas goalkeeper, should have hit the net. Instead his shot clipped Shorunmu's elbow and deflected off the Besiktas bar.

Yet the crowd had barely time to criticise Viduka for the miss when he rectified it with a powerful downward header from 16 yards that beat Shorunmu comfortably.

Twelve minutes had gone and yet Besiktas were clearly in disarray. After Viduka had worried Shorunmu with another vicious effort from 30 yards, Leeds went three up when Matteo was the latest beneficiary of the Turks' feeble defending.

Bowyer's short corner and Olivier Dacourt's near-post centre caused a flurry in which Smith had a shot blocked. Matteo, an attacking presence throughout, pounced on the rebound. The ball hit the roof of the net. Matteo struck the bar again before the interval and Smith missed a four-yard header immediately after it. The cross for that came from Bakke, and the Norwegian got the goal his calm yet decisive solo display merited when he drilled in the fourth 19 minutes into the second half.

A nasty spat followed in which the Besiktas striker Pascal Nouma collected a yellow card - like Smith, he is out of the return - but Leeds recovered their poise when Huckerby, on for Smith, rammed in the fifth on 90 minutes and then set up Bowyer to finish off what he started in the fourth minute of injury time. It was Leeds United 6, Besiktas 0. It was a European fantasy.

"These nights don't come around very often," O'Leary added. "All I can say is that I'm starting to enjoy the Champions' League."

LEEDS: Martyn, Kelly, Harte, Radebe, Mills, Bowyer, Bakke, Dacourt (McPhail 75), Matteo, Viduka, Smith (Huckerby 80). Subs Not Used: Robinson, Bridges, Jones, Hay, Burns. Booked: Dacourt, Smith. Goals: Bowyer 7, Viduka 11, Matteo 22, Bakke 65, Bowyer 90, Huckerby 90.

BESIKTAS: Shorunmu, Khlestov, Umit, Erman (Rahim 82), Nihat, Tayfur, Kahran, Ibrahim (Mehmet 72), Munch, Dursun, Nouma (Fazli 72). Subs Not Used: Fevzi, Murat, Bayram, Yasin. Booked: Ibrahim, Tayfur, Erman.

Referee: M Perrera (Madrid).